From farm leftovers to biofuel

Imagine turning agricultural leftovers into low-emission biofuel. That is, taking plant parts like inedible cornstalks and fueling our cars, trucks, boats and planes. ExxonMobil and its partners at Clariant and Genomatica are working together as part of an ambitious research program to do just that.
Both Clariant and Genomatica have a history of turning promising laboratory research into breakthrough industrial applications. Clariant’s innovative sunliquid® technology is ready to operate at commercial scale and will come into use in four cellulosic ethanol plants in Europe and China. Genomatica manufactures sustainable chemicals.

In short, Clariant’s sunliquid platform will extract energy-rich sugars from inedible corn leftovers and Genomatica will develop processes to convert these sugars into biodiesel.

For ExxonMobil, this research is part of the company’s ongoing portfolio to convert non-food biomass and algae into low-emission transportation fuels.

Taking advantage of ExxonMobil’s experience in developing and supplying energy products on a global scale, the partnership aims to build a seamless refining processes that could transform corn leftovers and other non-food biomass into energy game changers.